Homecoming
by PhoenixVersion1
Summary: This is my entry for October’s 24-Hour Short Story Competition on r/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil. Marco Diaz had the perfect life. A beautiful wife, a nice house, and a new baby girl...


A strange sound pulled him out of his dreams and into reality. Marco Diaz-Butterfly opened his eyes in the dark and focused on the ceiling as they tried to adjust. It was slightly annoying, as he hadn't gotten a lot of sleep since the baby came a few months ago. Not hearing anything further, he rolled over and attempted to snuggle up to his wife and go back to sleep. His face landed on her pillow and into a puddle of warm wetness.

"Ugh, Star, you drooled onto your pillow again!" he playfully bantered with his wife as he wiped his face with his hand. She remained motionless, which wasn't unusual as she was a heavy sleeper, and he decided to try and go back to sleep. The drool felt especially sticky, and even flipping the pillow over didn't seem to help. Marco decided he could live with a little drool.

Cuddling up to Star he nuzzled the back of her neck, and breathed in deeply, expecting the usual delicious scent of strawberries. Instead, his nostrils were filled with a very coppery scent, and even his mouth tasted vaguely of metal.

This confused the man, and he rolled over to grab his cell phone off of the nightstand. The bright light momentarily blinded him, but instead of the time, he was instead transfixed by the crimson smear across the phone from where he unlocked it.

Panic set in as the pieces started to connect. His heart thudded in his ears like a jackhammer as he jumped up and turned the light on. Turning back to the bed, tears stung Marco's eyes as he saw the body of his wife laying there. There was so much blood in the bed that his brain couldn't even rationalize that one body could hold that much. Her eyes were partially open, and her mouth was slightly agape. A hole about the size of a nickel stood out on her throat as the origin of the blood. She was already gone.

How could this have happened? Who would've done something so vile? He was going to be a single p-! At thoughts of their daughter, true terror set in, he made a dash for the door. Throwing it open and rushing down the hall, he threw open the door to the nursery and quickly ran up to the crib. It was completely empty, as if to mock him. No sign of his daughter anywhere.

Marco took a deep breath and tried to calm down. He was hyperventilating as he was overcome with fear for her safety. *'Think, Marco!'* He remembered he kept a loaded Glock .40 in the top shelf of the closet right across from the nursery. In retrospect, this was an awful place to keep a gun, but in his defense, he never thought he'd have to use it! It had been a serious gift from Janna, of all people. She had even taken him to a firing range, once.

He slowly and cautiously opened the door. His nerves were on fire as he grasped the door handle and slowly pulled it open. A loud creak sounding from the door made the hairs on his arms and neck stand on end. If they were still here, they knew Marco was up too. In his frenzied state, it was a small miracle he remembered to click the safety off. The gun felt foreign and heavy in his shaking hands.

He turned the corner down the hallway, and proceeded on with the gun leading the way. There were a couple of rooms with the door closed, but something led him past them and towards the living room. He was almost to the end of the hall when he heard something that made his heart leap up into his throat. Someone was humming an odd, yet familiar melody in the pitch black darkness that surrounded them.

Was that "Too Little, Too Late" by Love Sentence? A knot formed in his stomach. Marco knew the light switch was a few feet away on his left, but he had no idea if the person humming was alone or not. Indecision gripped at his chest, and his hands were sweating holding the gun. His adrenaline had spiked long ago, and his body was very twitchy. He clenched his jaw and forced himself to move towards the light switch.

Flipping the switch, his sense of dread turned turned to utter confusion. Sitting in his recliner, holding his baby, was a woman. He proceeded towards her, gun still drawn. Skinny was an understatement, as it looked like years of emaciation had taken its' toll. She resembled a skeleton or a ghost. She wore a faded sea foam green dress, that had seen better days judging by its soiled state. Her eyes were sunken into her skull, and mascara had streaked down her face from crying. The woman was staring down at the baby, and smiling. His daughter looked to be okay, but the woman was holding a bloody knife too close for comfort. Her hair was a pale blonde, with what looked to be the remnants of a blue streak in it.

It clicked, and he felt stupid for it taking so long. "Jackie?"

The woman finally acknowledged his presence. "Hey Marco Diaz!" She looked up at him.

Marco was shocked. This was so surreal. He hadn't heard from Jackie in years! Making sure that he pointed well away from his daughter, he trained it on her head. He swallowed, and tried to sound as assertive as possible. "Get the knife away from my daughter, Jackie."

She laughed. It was an odd sound, that almost sounded like a cough. Almost like she hadn't laughed in forever. "I don't think so, Marco." Her eyes flashed dangerously as the bloody knife was close to her sleeping face.

"What are you doing here? You could have asked if you needed money!" Fresh tears poured down his face. "W-why... did you kill Star?" He wiped his face with one hand while keeping the other pointed towards his ex.

"Oh Marco... Star wasn't part of the picture, ...so she had to go. I didn't come here for money, I came here for you! For her!" She explained to him. As he lowered the gun in stunned shock, she continued. "My life has been shitty for way too long. When we broke up, I spent YEARS trying to find myself. I tried going pro as a skater and that didn't work out. Everything here just reminded me of you. So I got out. I moved to Portland."

She gripped the knife tightly, and Marco brought the gun back up reflexively. A sense of dread washed over him as she continued. "There was this guy at a party... He got me to try some different drugs." If the track marks that he could spot going down her arm were any indication, he knew what drug she became a fan of. "I lost my apartment and my job. I started doing ...unspeakable things to have a place to stay, and money for my fix. I got sick of it. Sick of living. The last time I was happy was the Love Sentence concert with you and Star. Isn't that sad? I fucking peaked at 13!"

Marco didn't know what to say, but fearing for his baby, he tried. "I'm sorry that happened Jackie. Really, I am. Put the knife down and we'll get you some help!"

Jackie laughed again. "I don't need help. I need you. We could raise a family together!" She moved the knife away from his daughter's face and he took a chance. He squeezed the trigger and was met with an audible *click*. He hadn't remembered to chamber a round!

The knife moved back towards his child, and he desperately pleaded. "Wait! Don't do this Jackie! I love you!"

She shook her head sadly. "We both know that's not true, Marco. I want you to remember what happens next is your fault."


End file.
